VAR&amp;ETIES. THE CcINA ExPEDrrto.-.Captain Dickenson writes under date of Shanghai, Feb. 6, R16L "The arrangements for our expedition are now pretty complete. The party consists, besides myself, of Major Sarel, Dr. Barton, (an Englishman giving up practice here) Mr. Schereschewsky, who undertakes to interpret for us, while he goes under the auspices of an American Missionary Society, four Chinamen, and four Seiks,,whom we have obtained from the 11th Punjab Infantry here. The whole expenses will fall on the three of us; but we expect, when we get through, that the Indian Government will, at least, find the interpreter and Chinese passages back to this country. The General bas sanctioned my drawing advanced pay, an I believe that the expense will not outrmn my pay according to the Indian rate. My proper Battery goes to the Mauritius this year; and I have obtained nine months' leave, with orders to report to the Adjutant-General in India, and believe there will be no difficulty i...

WE were s8omewhat surprised to find that so large 'and respectable a minority voted for.Mr. FonRBE' motion to expunge the first clause of the Municipalities Act Amendment Bill, which repeals the provision of the Act imposing a fine on municipal officers who refuse to serve when elected. It has always struck us that this attempt to-compel a man to become an alder man, whether he. likes it or not, is both tyran nical and unnecessary, and would beineffectual even were it necessary. If a citizen who has been nominated makes it generally known that he is unwilling to serve, there issmochance that he will be elected contrary to his expressedl wish. But ifhe'should be elected, there is no clause -to compel 'him tq attend to his duties. The horse may be brought to the water,' but he cannot be 'forced to drink. . The only reason why so arbitrary a provision as this is retained is because we have inherited it from our fore fathers, who enacted it ate.atime when the office ofalderman was very ...

THE EXPLORATION OF THE INTERIOR. Tar results of the Victorian exploring expedition are certainly somewhat disheartening, and the achievements hitherto are not at all proportionate to the labour and outlay incurred. The real starting point for the exploration of the.interior was Cooper's Creek. Yet, up to this time, we know nothing of the country beyond there more than is given in Mr. Will' account of his ninety-mile trip, to the northward. Al' the delays and dificulties and casualties have been on the journey from the Darling to Cooper's Creek, and in keeping watch there, and this is quite subsidiary work. Cooper's Creek is much more accessible from the head of Spencer's Gulf than from Hobseon's Bay. Mr Gregory, in his downward journey to Adelaide, found no difficulty whatever on that part of his journey, and from the outermost sheep stations at Mount Berle the journey to Cooper's Creek might at almost any time' be made in less than a week. But as the expedition has had its head qua...

TO CORRESPONDENT8. No notice can be taken of anonymous communi cations. Whatever , is intended for insertion, muse be authenticated by the name and address of theriter; not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of his good faith. We annot 'undertake to return rejected communi. cations. [While our coumnsa ssill be always open to the insertion of correspondence on subjects of local and general interest, ,we do not, by any means, hold ourselves responsible forts sentiments that' may be expressed . Tfe :p b31r ,etrabM . TUESDAY, lILY 16, 1861.

I, o. . IPSWICH EQUITABLE INVESTMENT AND ..Il ING, SOCIETY. Conmrrrsa:. JOHN MURPHY. Esq., Mayor,.Pam; mE. JAMES GIBSON, TBszEuara. Mr. H. J. TAYLOB :. .Mr RICHARD WRIGHlT. Mr JAMES GUILFOYLE., Mr. C:'L. D. FATTORINL Mr. oHAREES WALKER. Sotoorroo: Mr. C. F: CHUBB. SUv?'Eos: Mr. W. J. TROTTER. ReBCsvaEY : Mr. HENRY M. COCKBURN. TIHIS Society is established for the purpose of i enabling its members to purchase freehold property, and to'build houses by the iasistance of loans to be repaid by monthly instalments. Borrowers are entitled to receive the.sum of £100, on payment of 12s. per month, together with the proportion of interest at which they purchase the right to adranceupon their shares, and can pay off the amount due bythem to the Society at any time, and are entitled to a deduction of the full profits made up to such time. Shares and all information as to the re-payment of loans from this Society may be obtained on application, either personally or by letter, to the Secretary. H...

BIRTH. &amp;nbsp; On the 11th July, at Spring Hill, Mrs. J. Scott, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. On the 9th July, at Milton, by the Rev. Joseph Fletcher, Mr. Robert Croft, eldest son of Rev. James Thornton, of Auckland, New Zealand, to Miss Eleanor, second daughter of Mr. Aylmer Edwin Campbell, Auctioneer and Commission Agent, late of Ipswich. On the 11th July, at North Brisbane, by the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Aaron, second son of the late Mr. James Wakefield, to Eliabeth Ann, eldest daughter of Mr. John Birch, Storekeeper, Brisbane, late of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, England. On the 9th July, at St. Stephen's Church, by the Right Rev. Dr. Quinn, Bishop of Brisbane, assisted by the Very. Rev. Dean &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; Rigney, Randal Macdonnell, Esq., to Miss Sheehan of Brisbane. DEATH. On the 8th July, at his residence, Drayton, Darling Downs, in the 39th year of his age, Stephen Mehan, third son of the late Patrick Mehan Esq., of Londonderry, Ireland.

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. THURSDAY, 11th JULY. THE PUBLICANS' ACT. Mr. BLAKENEY presented a petition signed by a &amp;nbsp; large number of the publicans of Brisbane and Ipswich &amp;nbsp; praying for the removal of several obnoxious clauses in the law relating to the sale of wines and spirituous liquors, and setting forth that in the city of Brisbane several instances had occurred in which the Bench of magistrates had refused the renewal of licenses which had been held for years without assigning any reason for so doing, or hear- ing evidence from the parties so refused. Mr. LILLEY seconded the motion for the reception of the petition. Dr CHALLINOR believed that the petition was &amp;nbsp; incorrect in one or two particulars. He had sat in one or two instances on licensing days at Ipswich, and knew that when opposition was offered or a license refused, the applicants were always heard in reply. Mr. BLAKENEY would remind the hon. member (Dr. Challinor) that the charges made ...

ENGLISH MARKETS. Hides.-The good qualities of Anutralian'shlveddit full prices, whilst the inferior sorts bave suet idi ll.il and in most cases td. per Ib. beaper. The'gat prt' of the irst-elass heavy hides has been taken. i :n. -:: Leather.-Importers having acceptedaf ir'therde; n?i of id. per lb., a good bnusioi lias beein done 'ina Adtra lian, sales by private contract and publil le being upwards of200 bales. '. .- : :-' ': ', " " :' Horns.-Ox and s cow are rather seeaper, bliet the greater part of 177,918Australiasn,? fferMl'tst mnt, wasosold. . Skins.-Prices are well supported, the few rpasei' feted it public sale having been nearly all bold. : TTaliow.-The market has been extremely aldl,a?i , the sqtt sales show a decline of Is. to is. 6C.p erc?d t. iP.Y.C. on the p1ot, and up to lunie, epidtb7.6d., ; and for October to December, 54;. fiji.: Australian is: also in less demand at a decline of aboat 6d. to Is. aer I cwt. hote total stpe is naw,6a 7 casks agi.nst-lS,5668 casks. T...

PRODUCE AND STOCK CIROULAC . [(omnT AN co.] Woo,--The lots offered at our sale this day consisted chiefly of fellmongered wools, all of which, except three bales marked Ifleld, ware sold, the prices obtained exlibiting no falling off on late rates.. Quotations for. other description are nominal, in the absence of any quantity to'test the market, whicb cannot yet be lookm for. SnBEePsrNs.-A slight advance may be quoted this week, the quantity coming to hand b.ing i,,suffcient to supply the requirements of the wool warhisngi establish. mente, One parcel of lambskins, very light, realized lld. per lb. TALLOW.-OF that cetalogued for this day's sale (mostly small parcels of mixed add station .tallow) only 34 casks were disposed of.the remainder bi:g withdrawn in consequence of the iodisposition of the trade to operat except at a considerable reduction-the news reportedby telegram showing a decline in the London market has had a depressing effect here, and lower prices will liae' to be su...

DEFENCE OF T??0 r? oLONiES.-At the departure of the mail the parliamentary committee on Colonial Expenditure was still eitting. The following was the evidence of the late Prime Minister of New, South Wales:-Sir A. Donaldson was examined, and stated that for the safety of the Australian colonies he was in favour of always having a disciplined foice bf European tioope in the Colonies, both for purposes of defence and forming a nucleus for organising a loealfosrce; by i local force he meant a volunteer force. The whole cost of the fortifi cations in the harbour of Sydney had been defrayed by the colony. The whole of the European troops in New South Wales were chiefly concentrated at -Sydney, with the exception of a guard at Newcastle; for. purposes ,of defence against invasion, the colony mustrelyentirely on maral forces. The people in Sydney never di~mt'of an invasion except in the event .of a war breaking b·ut' between England and France.. Hebelieved thecolo.ists would be much better...

COTTON AND EMIGRATION TO QUEENS LAND. (Fros the Money Makttet Beeie, May 25.) A LECTURe was delivered on the 13th instant at the Polytechnic, Regent-street, descriptive of the new Australian Colony of Queensland, as a Field for Emigration, and as peculiarly adapted for the pro duction of Cotton, by Henry Jordan, Esq., Queens land Emigration Commissioner, T. Badley, Esq., M.P. for Mancheater, in the chair; M. H. Mafsh, Esq., M.P. for Salisbury, sat on the right of the chairman, The Lecturing Theatre was well filled with a highly respectable audience of both sexes, and several eminent merchants and gentlemen con nected with the cotton manufacturing interests were present. Mr. Bazley commenced by some'esryaappropriate remarks on the great importance of the subject to be brougbtbefore them by the lecturer, whom he introduced as commissioned. by the Queensland Government, and as having come to this country with the highest testimonials of ability and character, and upon whose statements,...

(rew Ithe Home News.) UN.VEMSAL attention is diverted for the hour from Europe to America. Italy fades before the stronger blaze of South Carolina and her Confederates; Napiles yields in interest to Washington; and even the Quadrilateral is forgotten in the curiosity with i which intelligence is looked for from the neighbour hood of Norfolk Harbour. The whole face of things las undergone a revolution, from the Rocky Moun tains to the Gulf of Florida. The motionless policy of the Washington Cabinet has been suddenly roused into activity, and President Lincoln has illustrated the ambiguous reserve with which he entered upon office by a declaration of war. There is no longer any doubt about the shape the* American quarrel is doomed to take; although no man, even with these facts, for which there is no redemption, before him, can venture to prophecy the issue BDn the 5th of May, the twenty days of grace granted by President Lincoln to the citizens in arms against the Federal government ...